American Egg Board asks America to 'Wake up to Eggs' in 2012

New marketing campaign from the American Egg Board will feature print and online advertising as well as social media and public relations efforts.

The American Egg Board kicks off its "Wake up to Eggs" marketing campaign early in 2012 with the advertisements commencing in the first quarter. AEB will get back to using magazine advertisements for the first time in a few years, according to Kevin Burkum, senior vice president of marketing, AEB.

For the first time in 35 years, there will be no national television advertisements included in the campaign. Burkum said that with the fragmentation of the television audience due to more numerous programming choices and the high cost of television time, AEB has decided that other media options are more cost effective for getting the message out to the general public about eggs.

Effective advertising

Burkum said that magazine advertising has been shown to be an effective and efficient means of communicating with consumers. Magazine advertisements increase purchase intent five times more than television or the Internet. He said that the most cost-efficient means of advertising always include magazines. Magazines are the only medium to be ranked as the most efficient at each stage of the purchase funnel, alone or in combination with other media. The purchase funnel is the marketing model used to describe each step a consumer goes through in the purchase decision, going from awareness, to opinion, to consideration, to preference, to purchase.

In addition to the move back to magazine advertising, Burkum said that AEB has been gradually shifting resources to the new media over time, and this will accelerate with elimination of television advertisements. The so-called new media include Internet advertising and paid search terms as well as website maintenance and development and Facebook efforts. AEB has over 250,000 fans on Facebook, more than any other agricultural commodity group has, according to Burkum.

New media marketing efforts range from the obvious such as online advertisements to the more subtle such as paid search terms. Paid search reaches consumers who are actively seeking information about eggs or healthy breakfast options. “Many of the egg-related recipe terms are popular, as people search for recipe ideas and tips," said Burkum. "Surprisingly, hard-boiled eggs are one of the most searched terms.”

“Wake up to Eggs”

The goal of the “Wake up to Eggs” campaign is to increase egg consumption for breakfast Monday through Friday. Burkum said that research has shown that less than 13% of weekday breakfasts eaten at home include eggs. “Breakfast can be a trigger point for people eating more eggs,” Burkum said. “Research has shown that people are more likely to have eggs at other meals if they have them for breakfast.”

“Our role is to challenge the status quo and get consumers to think outside the cereal box and shine a light on the benefits of starting their weekday off with eggs for breakfast,” he said. The misconception that preparing eggs for breakfast takes too much time is being addressed with directions and recipes for preparing eggs in the microwave, according to Burkum.

Just about all consumers buy eggs, so everyone is a target for increasing egg consumption, according to Burkum. This opens up a wide range of media choices for the “Wake up to Eggs” campaign, advertisements will run in magazines targeting women and men.

Facts are on our side

AEB conducted testing to determine how facts about eggs resonated with consumers, looking for messaging that would have the greatest impact. These motivating facts or attributes are called “Reason to Believe” in marketing jargon. The eggs' attributes that tested as most likely to cause consumers to eat eggs more often for breakfast were found to be: the role eggs can play in a weight loss regime, the overall benefits of egg protein, and the higher than previously reported level of Vitamin D in eggs. The egg attributes that tested as being most newsworthy were the higher than previously reported Vitamin D level in eggs, the lower than previously reported cholesterol content of eggs and the positive impact of egg proteins on brain function.

Burkum said that AEB’s marketing and public relations efforts will continue to leverage the good “news” about eggs to keep eggs top of mind and to motivate purchase. “We will continue to build awareness of the lower cholesterol and higher Vitamin D news, along with the news that eggs can help you maintain a healthy weight, and that they have high quality protein for mental energy,” he said.

The American Egg Board is hoping that quick convenient methods for preparing and serving eggs, like these scrambled eggs cooked in the microwave and prepared and served in the same bowl, can boost egg consumption for weekday breakfasts.

An in-store ad from the the American Egg Board's national advertising campaign, "Wake Up to Eggs."

A magazine ad from the the American Egg Board's national advertising campaign, "Wake Up to Eggs."

A magazine ad from the the American Egg Board's national advertising campaign, "Wake Up to Eggs."